Capito Secures CDS Award for WVU Bioenergy Research Project

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS), announced an award from the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for an advanced renewable bioenergy research project at the West Virginia University (WVU) Davis College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

This award, which was secured through a Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) request made by Senator Capito in Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24), will be used to fund the acquisition and operating costs of a liquid chromatograph/mass spectrometer (LC/MS) for research in using organic biomass as a potential source of renewable energy.

"WVU has been the leader on critical research that has produced essential breakthroughs," Senator Capito said. "In my conversations with WVU, they identified this project as a pressing need and opportunity for research. Pairing the university's prowess with our state's legacy as an energy producer makes WVU the perfect candidate to take on this challenge. As a member of the CJS Appropriations Subcommittee, I will continue to work with our federal partners and leaders at our world-class research institutions to deliver the resources that explore new technologies and research in West Virginia."

Individual award details listed below:

• $233,000 NIST CDS award to WVU (Morgantown, W.Va.) to acquire a liquid chromatograph/mass spectrometer (LC/MS) that will support research and technology development projects of a consortium of faculty from three divisions within the Davis College of Agriculture Natural Resources and Design. All participating faculty are involved in various research projects that utilize a diverse set of approaches to directly or indirectly contribute to the development and innovation of plant- and biomass-derived renewable bioenergy and biomaterial products and technologies. The participating faculty utilize a large and diverse group of plant and biological materials for the proposed bioenergy research including wood, agricultural, and forest biomass; novel biofuel and biomass crops; conventional and genetically engineered crops; food waste and byproducts of food processing; and soil samples from fields and environments used for production and harvest of biomass crops and carbon sequestration.

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